12/15/04-birth of the Titanium Series!

**Darth Alex** · 12-16-2004

I was at a Walmart in Hazleton, PA yesterday night and they had a full assortment of the Titanium Series!
They had 6 each of the X-wing, Boba's Slave I, Falcon, and a TIE.
I originally saw on GH.com taht these were gonna be $9.98 and I figured at that price, I'd pass....but they are actually only $4.99!
They are heavy for such little ships. I opened the Falcon and the X-wing so far, plan on opening all four. The Falcon has both gun turrets, both move, and a rotating Rectenna(ridiculous, but THAT'S what it's called per the trading cards), as well as three little landing gear, permanently down, with a shading on the bottom. Really nice paint job, just cool to have. The X-wing has an opening cockpit, wings stuck in attack position, and a big retractable landing "leg" in front. The "cannons" come off and again the paint job is very cool.
The Slave I looks great and the TIE is excellent-very heavy, again, for such a small-scaled ship and very well painted. Oh, and they all have the two-piece stands these types of toys have had forever. Only difference is the SW logo is literally gleaming .
The packaging is great for all the carded collectors out there. Upon looking at all four together, each one has a color scheme and packaging detail to match the ship inside. The only packaging drawback is the way the package is assembled, all the tape on the back pretty much destroys the card back info.
All in all, I stick to the 3 3/4" line, but for $5 bucks, these are too cool to pass up.
I know a few SW collectors who really were unhappy with the demise of the Micro Machine line and the way some of these die-cast vehicles have been handled recently. This is a great start/re-birth of a line and I hope they don't see the same botched handling eventually of all things SW at Walmart. I have not seen a stitch of info on what's to come in this line, I'd bet Ep3 stuff, and more ships-Vader's TIE is a must with this TIE.
Again, I try to stick to one line to save money, but I've really re-organized my spending with 2/1/04 and the April Ep3 release coming up, so it's nice to see this line out and have new releases staggered. Plus, look at it this way: everyone is short of cash at the holidays....if Walmarts ALL get this series, layaway is an option, especially if one is buying mutliples for die-cast dioramas

.
Nice to see some new stuff as always....

**mastermatt24** · 12-20-2004

I hope you know that these arent new in any way- Yes they are nice but they are just repacks. The only ones I didnt get way back when were the super star destroyer and the A wing. I have to say that my favorite would be the y wing. Anyways I wouldnt be surprised if they started rereleasing EP1 figures.. Are they ever going to get pass the repacks?? At least the couldve given us new die-cast things or new buddies (bantha?) to buy. I know I wont be buying these unless they release new ones. I say save the $5.

**Darth Alex** · 12-21-2004

Since I never collected this line and really didn't research the past die-cast vehicles, I honestly had no idea these were re-packs! Does NOT suprise me though, with how the OTC has been.
I agree, I don't think Hasbro will ever get past the re-packs, and technically, they HAVE repacked Ep1 figures- look at the current TRU exclusive Naboo battle $19.99 pack...

**mastermatt24** · 12-21-2004

LoL! I forgot about those. I wouldnt mind repacks if they were good repacks.. *cough* SP Clone, Stormies, imp officers cough*

**Mr. JabbaJohnL** · 12-22-2004

I think I read on the Hasbro site that wave 2 of these will be all new. Don't quote me on that though.

I won't be getting any of these, I can barely afford all the basic figures and stuff that goes with them.

**mastermatt24** · 12-22-2004

Did they saw what they were going to be?

**JediTricks** · 12-22-2004

No, they just said they were going to be "all new".

Glad to hear you like 'em Alex, it's inspired me to review them too. I hope nobody reading this thread is turned off by learning these being older pieces, they're really top notch work (except for the X-wing, it's still pretty good though) and at $5 a good price since they're about the same size as a regular SW figure, except these are made of metal.

I have all these from their original releases in the Galoob line, the Falcon and X-wing are heavily based on their X-rays molds (the original wave of Galoob Die Casts were taken from the clear X-rays line's molds) which is why the X-wing doesn't have movable S-foils and the Falcon's landing legs are permanently deployed; Slave 1 is possibly also based on its X-rays mold, but if so had an extensive makeover for its Die Cast version. The Titaniums seem to have the same paint masks as the Galoob versions, though Hasbro's photos look a little crisper than my GDCs so it is possible they made changes to the paint or something.

The X-wing is my least favorite of the 4 of these (I don't have any of the Titaniums, just the original Galoob versions) yet still not too shabby because even though the S-foils can't close, the main fuselage is the right shape and proportions (the Micro Machine version is a little slimmer, but I think of the MM version as based on the FX prop while the Die Cast is based on the full-size prop). The blasters should be longer and thinner, but they're decent enough, the blank cockpit interior is not though. My favorite thing about this set is just flying it around, it's a great size to have in your hand and has the heft of metal to make it feel like a substantial toy. It's also roughly in scale to the Action Fleet Millennium Falcon.

The Falcon is really nice, it has very good dimensions - possibly the best of any Millennium Falcon toy ever - and a decent amount of detail packed into such a small package. This is the ANH version, with 3 landing legs and no extra boxes on the underside. Unlike the X-wing, the Falcon is clearly based on the FX prop rather than the under-scale practical prop exterior so it looks like the Falcon seen flying in space and attached to the bridge of a Star Destroyer. The 3 permanently deployed landing legs kinda bug me though and I've been wondering about cutting them off (I have 2 or 3 of the GDC versions from back in their clearance days) so it'll look better flying around, and this ship really wants to be flown around with its drive section so well defined and big blue engine exhaust. Other noteworthy details are the vent lines above the main engine, the top hatch and boarding ramp included in the sculpt, and the freight-loading area between the mandibles actually being hollow. And it's so solid, so much metal, it has a fantastic feel.

The TIE Fighter is pretty much perfect, easily my favorite toy version of this ship, I think it has the best dimensions of any TIE Fighter toy OR model ever made in no small part because of the size of the wings in relation to the cockpit and pylons (aka everything

). Heck, it even has a sculpted interior and opening hatch (though on the Galoob versions, once you open the hatch, it never held as nicely during play, so I suspect it'll be the same with the Hasbro Titaniums). I'm not sure if this one came from an X-ray mold, if it did, it was a rare European one, but none the less this piece is outstanding - I have 4 or 5 of these scattered about the house and have considered getting more. For play potential, it's in scale with the line's X-wing so if you get either, you should get both for dogfights; and since it's in scale with the X-wing that means it's in scale with the AF Falcon as well. And again, this one has a good weight to it.

Slave 1 is quite good, it features pivoting wings and movable blasters. The clear canopy reveals a molded Boba Fett at the controls. I love how the underside details are recessed with so many different shapes. There are also 2 stand holes, one for flat landing display and another 45 degrees out for standing flight display which looks amazingly cool. I can't imagine any fan not wanting this piece really, for $5 you probably can't get a better SW display piece and the moving features are fun. Although I like the Falcon and TIE better in many ways, Slave 1 is probably the best in the line.

**Kidhuman** · 01-07-2005

I saw these today and I really like the Slave1 and Falcon. At 4.99 I might buy them.

**plasticfetish** · 01-09-2005

I picked up the set of four a week or two ago, and in short... they're great! It's really nice having stuff like this available again. I can't wait to see what we'll get next.

**mastermatt24** · 01-09-2005

I want to see the A-wing and the executor re-released. I only saw them once but I didnt get them (Long story) so I would like them to make them again.